New Tour: Isle of Skye, the Fairy Pools & Highland Castles

Our tour begins in the northernmost city of the United Kingdom, Inverness – often regarded as the capital of the Highlands. On our way out of the city and towards the Isle of Skye, you will be able to take in some of its sights. Whilst small compared to other cities in Scotland like Glasgow or Edinburgh, Inverness still has a rich history as the site of countless battles, a key industrial city, and now a growing tourism destination. With our daily tours from Inverness going to Skye, the North Coast 500, and John O’Groats, you can see why it’s the perfect gateway to exploring the highlands. To view our other tours available from Inverness, click here.

After passing through places like Achnasheen, Loch Carron and Kyle of Lochalsh for comfort breaks and photo stops, we reach our first island destination – Dunvegan Castle. Standing on the shore of Loch Dunvegan, this Hebridean castle has been continuously operated by the same family for over 800 years. There is time here to explore the castle and its gardens, which together form part of a 42,000 acre estate, home to chief of the MacLeod clan! Should you prefer, you may also choose to explore Dunvegan village.

From there, we head to the imposing and dramatic Quiraing mountain range, composed of high cliffs and rock pinnacles that were caused by a gigantic landslip. We continue on to 3 more of the most iconic landmarks on the Isle of Skye; Kilt Rock, Lealt Falls and the Old Man of Storr. You’ll want to have your camera ready to capture some stunning landscape shots and be sure to share them with us using #timberbushtours.

We then head to Portree where we check into your accommodation for your overnight stay. Despite its size, Portree is the capital of Skye, and a picturesque one at that. When booking your tour with us, you can take advantage of our accommodation booking service, or book your accommodation yourself and save £10 on the price of your tour. When taking advantage of our accommodation booking service, you will be asked to select the type of room and accommodation you would prefer and we will take care of everything for you, all you need to do is bring the cash to pay it on the day. If you choose to book the accommodation yourself, we kindly ask that you book within central Portree, in order for your Driver-Guide to be able to drop you off in the evening and collect you in the morning. There are quite a few accommodation options on Skye, so to help you make your decision, you could always use SkyeConnect – a non-profit community company to protect, preserve and promote the island! 

Much of the island's accommodation is on the website and will help you research all of your options and pick the best option for yourself!

After breakfast, we leave Portree and head towards the Fairy Pools, shrouded in mystery and home to countless myths and legends. As its not the smoothest walk to them, you might want to bring walking boots or sensible shoes to help you reach them.

One of the legends about the origins of the Fairy Pools, and why you will find so many references to fairies on Skye, is because one of the chiefs of the Clan MacLeod (who you will remember from your time at Dunvegan Castle) married a fairy princess who unfortunately had to return to the land of the fairies via the Fairy Bridge. 

To learn more about some Scottish myths and folklore, including the Selkies who are supposedly found at the Fairy Pools, click here to read our blog!

We have a few more comfort and photo stops at Sligachan and Sconser before heading onwards to Broadford for a spot of lunch. You might want to keep an eye out to sea while you’re here to see if you can spot some of the local wildlife of Skye - with otters, seals and even killer whales spotted previously.

From those comfort stops, we head to the second castle of our tour – Eilean Donan. Situated on its own island at the head of Loch Duich, it is one of Scotland’s most photographed castles and is an iconic Scottish landmark. Having stood on its island since around the 12th or 13th century, the castle has had an interesting history, including being attacked by the Royal Navy of England who left the castle in ruins until it was reconstructed in the early 20th century. Explore the beautiful, atmospheric surroundings and grab some great photos.

We begin our return journey to Inverness but not before a quick stop at Fort Augustus, a scenic town found at the foot of Loch Ness lying on the 60m Caledonian Canal. Here, you are able to enjoy views of Loch Ness, and of course, keep an eye out for Nessie! We will arrive back in Inverness at around 6:30pm.